Blog
There are two different types of nebulae brought to you in this Picture of the Week. Each appears with a distinct colour in the visible sky and are captured here using the wide-field camera OmegaCAM on the VLT Survey Telescope (VST), hosted at ESO’s Paranal Observatory in the Chilean desert.
The large, bright emission nebula at the centre, IC1284, is a star-forming region composed primarily of hydrogen. Its rosy glow comes from electrons within the hydrogen atoms: they’re excited by the radiation from young stars, but then they lose energy and emit a specific colour or wavelength of light. One of the filters on OmegaCAM lets through this particular reddish colour, hence the nebula’s look. Meanwhile, another colour filter highlights the blue reflection nebulae NGC6589 and NGC6590 in the lower right corner. The dust in a reflection nebula preferentially scatters shorter, bluer wavelengths of light from nearby stars, which is what gives these nebulae their eerie glow. It’s the same reason why the sky is blue!
The frame of this image covers an area roughly equivalent in the sky to a full Moon. This image was captured as part of a large ESO public survey, the VST Photometric H alpha Survey of the Southern Galactic Plane and Bulge (VPHAS+), which observes nebulae and stars in visible light to help astronomers understand how stars are born, live and die.
1966 Kenny Rittenhouse received a Bachelor’s Degree in music from West Virginia Wesleyan College in 1988 and a Master of Music in Jazz Studies from the University of Maryland in 2006. He also did graduate work on trumpet and in jazz at the Eastman School of Music, and at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA where he studied with Roger Sherman of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Since 1990 Mr. Rittenhouse has been a member of The United States Army Band (Pershing’s Own) in Washington, DC., the premier band of the Army, and currently performs with The U.S. Army Blues Jazz Ensemble. As member of the Army Blues, he has shared the stage alongside Ernie Andrews, Kevin Mahogany, Lou Rawls, Wycliff Gordon, Doc Severinsen, Arturo Sandoval, and Sean Jones. As a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, he has toured nationally and internationally with jazz flutist Hubert Laws and vocalist Kurt Elling. As a past member of the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra led by trumpeter Sean Jones, he has shared the stage with Jazz legends such as Jimmy Heath, Ahmad Jamal, and Freddy Cole. Mr. Rittenhouse currently holds the Applied Trumpet Instructor position at Morgan State University. Before teaching at Morgan State, he taught Jazz Trumpet at George Mason University for the past 14 years. For over 25 years Mr. Rittenhouse has led his own jazz quartet performing in and around the Washington, DC area with many great jazz artists including Larry Willis, Ralph Peterson, Don Braden, Buck Hill, and Steve Wilson, and Butch Warren. The Kenny Rittenhouse Ensemble is one of the hardest swinging jazz groups in the greater DC metro area. The group, under the direction of trumpeter Kenny Rittenhouse, was formed several years ago and has appeared in such venues as Blues Alley, Bohemian Caverns, and Twins Jazz Club. The group recorded their first release (a sextet) in 2006 titled “The Francis Suite”. Their second release, recorded in February 2013 is titled “New York Suite”. It’s a hard swinging septet playing mostly original songs highlighting traditional straight ahead jazz with a bit of Funk & R&B in the mix. The ensemble performs with intensity and fervor, focusing on the concept of “swing”, paying homage to the blue note recording artist of the 60’s. These gifted performers pride themselves on presenting bop/post bop styles and modern originals as well as establishing a report with their audience that few others produce.
more...Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner CBE (born 2 October 1951), known as Sting, is an English musician and actor. He was the frontman, songwriter and bassist for new wave band the Police from 1977 until their breakup in 1986. He launched a solo career in 1985 and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat in his music.
As a solo musician and a member of the Police, Sting has received 17 Grammy Awards: he won Song of the Year for “Every Breath You Take“, three Brit Awards, including Best British Male Artist in 1994 and Outstanding Contribution in 2002, a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2019, he received a BMI Award for “Every Breath You Take” becoming the most-played song in radio history. In 2002, Sting received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Police in 2003. In 2000, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for recording. In 2003, Sting received a CBE from Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace for services to music. He was made a Kennedy Center Honoree at the White House in 2014 and was awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2017. In May 2023, he was made an Ivor Novello Fellow.
With the Police, Sting became one of the world’s best-selling music artists. Solo and with the Police combined, he has sold over 100 million records. In 2006, Paste ranked him 62nd of the 100 best living songwriters. He was 63rd of VH1‘s 100 greatest artists of rock, and 80th of Q‘s 100 greatest musical stars of the 20th century. He has collaborated with other musicians on songs such as “Money for Nothing” with Dire Straits, “Rise & Fall” with Craig David, “All for Love” with Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart, “You Will Be My Ain True Love” with Alison Krauss, and introduced the North African music genre raï to Western audiences through the hit song “Desert Rose” with Cheb Mami. In 2018, he released the album 44/876, a collaboration with Jamaican musician Shaggy, which won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 2019.
more...
Howard Mancel Roberts (October 2, 1929 – June 28, 1992) was an American jazz guitarist, educator, and session musician.
Roberts was born in Phoenix, Arizona to Damon and Vesta Roberts, and began playing guitar at the age of 8 – a Gibson manufactured $18 Kalamazoo student model acoustic given to him by his parents at Christmas. He took lessons from Horace Hatchett who commented to Roberts’ father that Roberts, at the age of 15, “…has his own style of playing and there’s nothing else I can show him. He plays better than I do.” By the time he was 15 he was playing professionally locally, predominantly blues based music, where he learned from a number of black musicians, trumpeter Art Farmer being among that group. In 1992 Roberts was quoted in “The Independent Newsletter” by Steve Voce saying he considered that early experience to be “the most valuable” to him in his development as a player. At the time Roberts and his close friend and roommate, guitarist Howard Heitmeyer, would start their day by practicing 3 or 4 hours, catch an afternoon movie, returning to practice until they went to the clubs in the evening.
When Roberts reached the age of 17 he was involved with a class that was begun by Joseph Schillinger, a composer/theorist. Fabian Andre had been commissioned to teach the class. Some of the students who had taken the class included George Gershwin, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Oscar Levant. Schillinger applied mathematical principles to art which appealed to Roberts. To be able to take the course he made a deal with Andre; he’d sweep the floors after class to help defray the cost of his tuition. By the late ‘40s Roberts was playing with one of his boyhood friends, Pete Jolly – a well known jazz pianist – and they toured Washington and Idaho in early 1950.
more...
Ellen McIlwaine (October 1, 1945 – June 23, 2021) was an American-born singer-songwriter and musician best known for her career as a solo singer, songwriter and slide guitarist.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, McIlwaine was adopted by missionaries and raised in Kobe, Japan, giving her exposure to multiple languages and cultures. She attended the Canadian Academyschool in Kobe, graduating in 1963. Her first experience in music was playing on piano Ray Charles, Fats Domino and Professor Longhair songs that she heard on Japanese radio. On moving back to the United States she bought a guitar, beginning a stage career in Atlanta, Georgia in the mid-1960s.[citation needed]
In 1966, McIlwaine had a stint in New York City’s Greenwich Village where she opened every night at the Cafe Au Go Go, playing with Jimi Hendrix, and opening for Muddy Waters, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and Big Joe Williams.[citation needed] She returned to Atlanta to form the band Fear Itself, a psychedelic blues rock band.
more...David “Dave” Holland (born 1 October 1946) is an English cellist, double bassist, bass guitarist, composer and bandleader who has been performing and recording for five decades. He has lived in the United States since the early 1970s.
His extensive discography ranges from solo performances to pieces for big band. Holland runs his own independent record label, Dare2, which he launched in 2005.
Holland formed his first working quintet in 1983, and over the next four years released Jumpin’ In, Seeds of Time, and The Razor’s Edge, featuring alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, trumpeter Wheeler and trombonist Julian Priester (or Robin Eubanks). Subsequently, he formed the Dave Holland Trio (with Coleman and DeJohnette) for the 1988 album Triplicate, and teamed with Coleman, electric guitarist Kevin Eubanks and drummer Marvin “Smitty” Smithfor Extensions. He also recorded Life Cycle, an album of compositions played on solo cello.
The bassist also continued to collaborate with his peers, often connecting with figures from the previous generation of jazz icons. In 1989, Holland teamed with drummer Billy Higgins and pianist Hank Jones to record The Oracle, and joined drummer Roy Haynes and guitarist Pat Metheny in 1989 to record Question and Answer.
more...Albert Gene Collins, known as Albert Collins and the Ice Breakers(October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993), was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. He was noted for his powerful playing and his use of altered tunings and a capo. His long association with the Fender Telecaster led to the title “The Master of the Telecaster”.
Collins was born in Leona, Texas, on October 1, 1932. He was introduced to the guitar at an early age by his cousin Lightnin’ Hopkins, also a Leona resident, who played at family gatherings. The Collins family relocated to Marquez, Texas, in 1938 and to Houston in 1941, where he attended Jack Yates High School. Collins took piano lessons when he was young, but when his piano tutor was unavailable his cousin Willow Young would lend Albert his guitar and taught him the altered tuning that he used throughout his career. Collins tuned his guitar to an open F-minor chord (FCFA♭CF), with a capo at the 5th, 6th or 7th fret. At the age of sixteen, he decided to concentrate on learning the guitar after hearing “Boogie Chillen’” by John Lee Hooker.
more...
NGC 6946, sometimes referred to as the Fireworks Galaxy, is a face-on intermediate spiral galaxywith a small bright nucleus, whose location in the sky straddles the boundary between the northernconstellations of Cepheus and Cygnus. Its distance from Earth is about 25.2 million light-years or 7.72 megaparsecs, similar to the distance of M101 (NGC 5457) in the constellation Ursa Major. Both were once considered to be part of the Local Group, but are now known to be among the dozen bright spiral galaxies near the Milky Way but beyond the confines of the Local Group. NGC 6946 lies within the Virgo Supercluster.
The galaxy was discovered by William Herschel on 9 September 1798. Based on an estimation by the Third Reference Catalogue of Bright Galaxies (RC3) in 1991, the galaxy has a D25 B-band isophotal diameter of 26.77 kiloparsecs (87,300 light-years). It is heavily obscured by interstellar matter due to its location close to the galactic plane of the Milky Way. Due to its prodigious star formation it has been classified as an active starburst galaxy. NGC 6946 has also been classified as a double-barred spiral galaxy, with the inner, smaller bar presumably responsible for funneling gas into its center.
Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968 Washington Heights, NY) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens. The original lineup of the Teenagers, an integrated group, included three African-American members, Frankie Lymon, Jimmy Merchant, and Sherman Garnes; and two Puerto Ricanmembers, Joe Negroni and Herman Santiago. The Teenagers’ first single, 1956’s “Why Do Fools Fall in Love“, was also their biggest hit. After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and that of the Teenagers fell into decline. He was found dead at the age of 25 on the floor of his grandmother’s bathroom from a heroin overdose. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers. His life was dramatized in the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall in Love.
more...Oscar Pettiford (September 30, 1922 – September 8, 1960) was an American jazz double bassist, cellist and composer. He was one of the earliest musicians to work in the bebop idiom.
Pettiford was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, United States. His mother identified as being of Choctawdescent, and his father Harry “Doc” Pettiford identified as half Cherokee and half African American.
He grew up playing in the family band in which he sang and danced before switching to piano at the age of 12, then to double bass when he was 14. He is quoted as saying he did not like the way people were playing the bass, so he developed his own way of playing it. Despite being admired by the likes of Milt Hintonat the age of 14, he gave up in 1941 as he did not believe he could make a living. Five months later, he once again met Hinton, who persuaded him to return to music.
In 1942, he joined the Charlie Barnet band and in 1943 gained wider public attention after recording with Coleman Hawkins on his “The Man I Love“.[1] Pettiford also recorded with Earl Hines and Ben Websteraround this time. After he moved to New York, he was one of the musicians (together with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Kenny Clarke) who in the early 1940s jammed at Minton’s Playhouse, where the music style developed that later was called bebop. He and Dizzy Gillespie led a bop group in 1943.In 1945, Pettiford went with Hawkins to California, where he appeared in The Crimson Canary, a mystery movie known for its jazz soundtrack, which also featured Josh White. He then worked with Duke Ellington from 1945 to 1948 and for Woody Herman in 1949, before working mainly as a leader in the 1950s.
As a leader he inadvertently discovered Cannonball Adderley. After one of his musicians had tricked him into letting Adderley, an unknown music teacher, onto the stand, he had Adderley solo on a demanding piece, on which Adderley performed impressively.
Pettiford is considered the pioneer of the cello as a solo instrument in jazz music. He first played the cello as a practical joke on his band leader (Woody Herman), when he walked off stage during his solo spot and came back, unexpectedly with a cello and played on that. In 1949, after suffering a broken arm, Pettiford found it impossible to play his bass, so he experimented with a cello a friend had lent him. Tuning it in fourths, like a double bass, but one octave higher, Pettiford found it possible to perform during his rehabilitation (during which time his arm was in a sling) and made his first recordings with the instrument in 1950. The cello thus became his secondary instrument, and he continued to perform and record with it throughout the remainder of his career.
He recorded extensively during the 1950s for the Debut, Bethlehem and ABC Paramount labels among others. During the mid-1950s he played on the first three albums Thelonious Monk recorded for the Riverside label.
Between 1954 and 1958, Pettiford also led sextets, big bands and jazz orchestras which played dates in Manhattan venues like Birdland, where he continued to explore unusual instrumental voicing including French horns and harp. The reedist and composer Gigi Gryce collaborated with Pettiford on the novel arrangements for the orchestra’s hi-fi albums.
In 1958, Pettiford moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, and started recording for European companies. After his move to Europe he often performed with European musicians, like Attila Zoller, and also with other Americans who had settled in Europe, such as Bud Powell and Kenny Clarke.
He died in 1960 in Copenhagen shortly before his 38th birthday, from a virus closely related to polio.
more...Bernard “Buddy” Rich (September 30, 1917 – April 2, 1987 Brooklyn, NY) was an American jazz drummer, songwriter, conductor, and bandleader. He is considered one of the most influential drummers of all time.
Rich was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He discovered his affinity for jazz music at a young age and began drumming at the age of two. He began playing jazz in 1937, working with acts such as Bunny Berigan, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, and Harry James. From 1942 to 1944, Rich served in the U.S. Marines. From 1945 to 1948, he led the Buddy Rich Orchestra. In 1966, he recorded a big-band style arrangement of songs from West Side Story. He found lasting success in 1966 with the formation of the Buddy Rich Big Band, also billed as the Buddy Rich Band and The Big Band Machine.
Rich was known for his virtuoso technique, power, and speed. He was an advocate of the traditional grip, though he occasionally used matched grip when playing the toms. Despite his commercial success and musical talent, Rich never learned how to read sheet music, preferring to listen to drum parts and play them from memory.
more...
Senator Feinstein was a real patriot, champion of human rights, women’s advocate and overall progressive mentor that would not let any nonsense get in her way of justice. Thank You Dianne you are role model and humanitarian warrior!
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who was first elected to the U.S. Senate from California in 1992 in a wave election known as “the Year of the Woman” and went on to champion gun control, has died at her home in Washington, D.C. She was 90 years old.
In a statement released Friday morning, James Sauls, Feinstein’s Senate chief of staff, confirmed her death.
“There are few women who can be called senator, chairman, mayor, wife, mom and grandmother. Senator Feinstein was a force of nature who made an incredible impact on our country and her home state,” Sauls wrote. “She left a legacy that is undeniable and extraordinary. There is much to say about who she was and what she did, but for now, we are going to grieve the passing of our beloved boss, mentor and friend.”
ACCOMPOLISHMENTS
Protecting Marriage Equality, 2022: Senator Feinstein authored the Senate version of the Respect for Marriage Act (Public Law 117-228), a bill to repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act, enshrine marriage equality in federal law and provide additional legal protections for marriage equality. The bill passed both chambers of Congress in November 2022 and was signed into law by President Biden on December 13, 2022.
Ensuring safety of personal care products, 2022: Major provisions from Senator Feinstein’s bill, the Personal Care Products Safety Act, were included in the fiscal year 2023 federal spending bill. These provisions updated safety regulations for personal care products for the first time in more than 80 years, bolstering the Food and Drug Administration’s authority to ensure the safety of these products and for the first time providing the authority to recall dangerous products.
Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, 2022: Senator Feinstein led introduction of the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act (Signed into law March 2022, Public Law No: 117-103), which funds initiatives to help protect women from domestic violence and sexual assault. The legislation reauthorized VAWA through 2027, preserving advancements made in previous reauthorizations and included a number of additional improvements to the current law.
Ensuring fair pay for federal wildland firefighters, 2022: As part of the bipartisan infrastructure law, Senator Feinstein secured $600 million to provide pay raises of up to $20,000 per year for federal wildland firefighters, bringing their pay in line with state and other firefighters, and create a new occupational series for wildland firefighters. Senator Feinstein led several letters urging the swift implementation of these provisions, and in June, both the pay supplement and new occupational series were implemented. The pay raise was retroactive for all wildland firefighters to October 2021. In addition, Senator Feinstein led efforts in the Senate to secure a 14 percent increase for the U.S. Forest Service firefighter salary line item in the fiscal year 2023 federal budget to support a permanent pay raise for firefighters.
Support for homeless veterans in the Los Angeles area, 2021: Senator Feinstein worked with Representative Ted Lieu to secure enactment of the West LA VA Campus Improvement Act (Signed into law June 2021, Public Law No: 117-18). The legislation authorizes the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to use funds generated through land use-agreements at the West LA VA campus for the development of supportive housing and services.
Protecting California’s desert wilderness, 2019: Senator Feinstein authored and secured passage of the California Desert Conservation and Recreation Act, which protects more than 375,000 acres of wilderness, expands desert national parks by almost 40,000 acres, designates 200,000 acres of off-highway vehicle areas and designates 77 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers. The bill is the final step in a process that began with the first California Desert Protection Act in 1994.
Fighting for military housing reform, 2019: Senator Feinstein secured provisions from her Ensuring Safe Housing for our Military Act in the annual defense authorization bill. The provisions will create stronger oversight mechanisms, allow the military to withhold payments to contractors until issues are resolved and prohibit contractors from charging certain fees. It will also require the military to withhold incentive fees from poorly performing contractors.
Safeguarding Young Athletes from Sexual Predators, 2018: In response to the USA Gymnastics sex abuse scandal, Senator Feinstein in March 2017 introduced legislation requiring amateur athletics governing bodies to report sex-abuse allegations to law enforcement or a child-welfare agency within 24 hours. The law also makes it simpler for victims to report abuse and mandates oversight to ensure strong sexual-abuse prevention policies are implemented. The bill was signed into law in February 2018.
Protecting Religious Affiliated Institutions Act, 2018: In response to a string of bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers and other religiously-affiliated institutions, Senators Feinstein and Orrin Hatch drafted legislation to update the Church Arson Prevent Action. While it was already a federal crime to damage religious property, this bill makes clear that threats to religiously-affiliated institutions’ property is also a federal crime. This bill was signed into law in September 2018.
Confronting the Opioid Epidemic, 2018: To address the staggering number of drug and opioid overdose deaths ravaging this country, Senator Feinstein authored a number of key provisions that were included in the comprehensive, bipartisan opioid package, known as the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. This bill holds drug manufacturers and distributors accountable for failure to report suspicious orders of opioids and reauthorizes critical substance abuse prevention, treatment, and enforcement programs that directly benefit California, including the Drug Free Communities, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas and drug court programs.
Preventing Foreign Powers from Acquiring Sensitive U.S. Technology, 2018: Senator Feinstein was the lead Democratic cosponsor of a bipartisan bill with Senator Cornyn to modernize and strengthen how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States reviews acquisitions, mergers and other foreign investments for national security risks. The law updates tools to prevent foreign efforts from acquiring sensitive U.S. technology. The bill was signed into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act in August 2018.
Fighting Against Sex Trafficking, 2017: The Senate unanimously passed a bill drafted by Senators Feinstein and Grassley to help combat human trafficking. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act renews existing programs that make federal resources available to human trafficking survivors and establish new prevention, prosecution and collaboration initiatives to help bring the perpetrators to justice.
Protecting the California Desert, 2016: President Obama, drawing from a bill introduced by Senator Feinstein, designated three new national monuments spanning 1.8 million acres of California desert: the Mojave Trails National Monument, the Sand to Snow National Monument and Castle Mountains National Monument.
Countering the California Drought, 2016: Senator Feinstein secured passage of bipartisan legislation to respond to California’s five-year drought and modernize the state’s water system. In addition to short-term operational provisions, the bill also authorized $558 million in funds to assist the state in building a new water infrastructure including desalination, recycling and storage projects. Senator Feinstein has ensured full appropriation of this $558 million to help California weather future droughts.
Restoring Lake Tahoe, 2016: Senator Feinstein helped secure passage of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, a bill that authorized $415 million for aquatic invasive species control, storm water management, environmental restoration projects and fire risk reduction.
Restoring the West LA VA Campus, 2016: After decades of mismanagement at the West Los Angeles VA Campus, Senator Feinstein led an effort to halt these abusive practices and restore the campus to its intended purpose: service to veterans. In 2016, Congress passed the West Los Angeles Leasing Act, a law written by Senator Feinstein. This law requires that leases and land sharing agreements on the campus principally benefit veterans and their families. In addition to securing the passage of this law, Senator Feinstein has also worked to implement the Master Plan, which requires the development of 1,200 units of permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans.
Combatting Drug Trafficking, 2016: Senator Feinstein authored the Transnational Drug Trafficking Act, which was enacted in 2016. This bill allows for the prosecution of drug traffickers if there is a “reasonable cause to believe” that the drugs they are shipping will be trafficked into the United States. It also imposes penalties on individuals who manufacture or distribute precursor chemicals knowing that the chemicals will be used to make illicit drugs destined for the United States.
Banning Torture, 2015: Legislation drafted by Senator Feinstein and Senator John McCain to prevent torture of detainees in U.S. custody was signed into law. The amendment restricts interrogation techniques to those authorized in the Army Field Manual and requires access for the International Committee of the Red Cross to detainees in U.S. government custody.
Cybersecurity Information Sharing, 2015: Senator Feinstein worked with Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr to secure passage of the first major cybersecurity bill, which promotes information sharing between companies and between companies and the government. The bill included strict privacy safeguards as well as liability protections.
Strengthening the Visa Waiver Program, 2015: Provisions from a bill drafted by Senator Feinstein to strengthen the security of the Visa Waiver Program were signed into law. These provisions require individuals who have traveled to high-risk countries to go through the traditional visa process rather than the visa waiver program. The provisions also require the use of electronic passports and improved information-sharing between the United States and participating countries.
Combating Human Trafficking, 2015: Provisions from a bill drafted by Senator Feinstein and Senator Rob Portman to reduce the demand for human trafficking were included in the Justice for Victims of Human Trafficking Act. Those provisions increase penalties for buyers of sex acts from trafficking victims, expand reporting on trafficking prosecutions, require training on targeting and prosecuting buyers, expand wiretapping authority to cover all human trafficking offenses and strengthen crime victims’ rights.
Bipartisan Benghazi Report, 2014: Following the tragic attacks against U.S. diplomatic and CIA facilities in Benghazi, the Senate Intelligence Committee conducted a bipartisan investigation. The resulting report found that the attacks were preventable based on security vulnerabilities and a known terrorist threat. The report made 18 recommendations to increase security at U.S. facilities abroad.
Strengthening Food Safety, 2015: The Department of Agriculture acted on calls from Senator Feinstein to finalize strong new pathogen standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry parts to protect consumers from foodborne illness.
Report on CIA Torture, 2014: Senator Feinstein oversaw a six-year review of the CIA’s detention and interrogation program, culminating in the December 2014 release of the report’s executive summary and subsequent anti-torture legislation.
Anti-Meth Program, 2014: Senator Feinstein established the COPS Anti-Meth Program that directs federal funding to states with high seizures of precursor chemicals, finished meth labs and lab dump seizures. Since 2014, approximately $23 million has been appropriated to this program, with $5 million going to California.
Enhancing Safety of Underground Pipelines, 2012: The Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty and Job Creation Act was signed into law to address safety concerns about the 2.5 million miles of oil, natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines in the United States. The bill reflected many of the safety, inspection and enforcement provisions included in an earlier bill introduced by Senators Feinstein and Boxer in the wake of the tragic 2010 natural gas explosion in San Bruno, Calif.
Increasing Fuel Efficiency, 2012: Using a 2007 law spearheaded by Senator Feinstein, the Obama administration increased fleetwide fuel efficiency to 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light trucks by 2025.
Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, 2007: Senator Feinstein authored legislation that was signed into law in 2007 to require the Environmental Protection Agency to issue a rule mandating all major sources of greenhouse gases to report their emissions every year.
Combating Methamphetamine, 2010 and 2006: In 2010, a bill authored by Senator Feinstein was signed into law to require all regulated sellers of certain listed chemicals used to make methamphetamine to submit self-certifications of compliance to the attorney general. In 2006, a bill authored by Senators Feinstein and Jim Talent was signed into law to restrict the sale of products necessary to cook methamphetamine. The bill also authorized funds for enforcement, training and research into meth treatment.
Banning Phthalates in Children’s Toys, 2009: Senator Feinstein authored legislation to impose a nationwide ban on phthalates in products designed for children’s use, modeled after the California and EU bans.
Protecting unaccompanied immigrant children, 2008: Senators Feinstein and Sam Brownback passed legislation to guarantee basic humanitarian protections to unaccompanied immigrant children who arrive at the U.S. border alone.
Cracking Down on Rogue Internet Pharmacies, 2008: Senators Feinstein and Jeff Session succeeded in passing a bill to crack down on rogue Internet pharmacies that sell controlled substances without a valid prescription.
Closing the Enron Loophole, 2008: Senators Feinstein, Levin and Snowe authored legislation to close the so-called “Enron Loophole” and establish federal oversight of our nation’s electronic energy markets. The law prevents manipulation, excessive speculation and fraud in electronic energy futures markets, which had operated without regulation since 2000.
Increasing Fuel Efficiency, 2007: A bill authored by Senators Feinstein, Snowe, Inouye and Stevens was signed into law to increase average fuel economy standards for America’s fleet of vehicles by at least 10 miles per gallon over 10 years by 2020, the largest increase in fuel efficiency in more than two decades.
Criminalizing Border Tunnels, 2006: Senators Feinstein and Kyl succeeded in passing the first federal law to criminalize the construction or financing of tunnels or subterranean passages across an international border into the United States.
Preserving Pristine Land, 2006 and 2005: In 2006, Feinstein legislation permanently protected almost 300,000 acres and preserves over 21 miles of the Black Butte River in Northern California. In 2005, Senator Feinstein secured passage of a bill added 4,500 acres of pristine natural land to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and 25,500 acres to the Redwood National Park in Del Norte County.
Strengthening California’s Drought Resiliency, 2004: Senator Feinstein and Congressman Ken Calvert worked together to enact bipartisan legislation to increase federal funding for storage, water recycling and other projects to improve California’s water supply.
San Francisco Salt Ponds, 2003: Senator Feinstein helped negotiate the purchase of 16,500 acres of salt ponds along the San Francisco Bay, the largest wetlands restoration project in California history. Little more than a decade after the agreement was reached, endangered species were already returning to the wetlands and winter bird populations had doubled from 100,000 to 200,000.
Preventing Catastrophic Wildfires, 2003: Senators Feinstein and Ron Wyden were the lead Democratic sponsors of legislation enacted to expedite forest thinning projects to prevent catastrophic wildfires.
National AMBER Alert Network Act, 2003: Senators Feinstein and Hutchinson spurred President Bush to issue an Executive Order that resulted in the creation of the nationwide AMBER Alert communications network to help law enforcement find abducted children..
Blocking Telemarketers, 2003: Senators Feinstein and Ensign passed a bill authorizing the Federal Trade Commission to establish a national “Do Not Call” telemarketing registry.
Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, 2000: Senator Feinstein’s bill authorized $300 million to help preserve and restore Lake Tahoe and reverse the environmental emergency threatening the future of the lake and forest. Senator Feinstein is working on updated legislation to build on the momentum of the original bill.
Adding to Golden Gate National Recreation Area, 2000: A bill drafted by Senator Feinstein added nearly 1,300 acres of undeveloped land in Pacifica, Marin County and San Francisco to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
Preserving Otay Mountain Wilderness, 1999: A bill written by Senator Feinstein preserved 18,500 acres of the Otay Mountain region. The mountain area, located in eastern San Diego County, is home to 20 sensitive plant and animal species.
Headwaters Forest, 1999: Senator Feinstein negotiated an agreement with Maxxam Corp. to protect the 2,800-acre Headwaters Grove and other old-growth redwood groves that otherwise would have been destroyed. The agreement secured $250 million in federal funds (a match for state funding) to purchase the 7,500 acre Headwaters Forest, the largest privately held stand of uncut old-growth redwoods. The agreement also helped preserve 12 additional groves of ancient redwood trees.
Breast Cancer Research Stamp, 1997: Senator Feinstein worked with Senators D’Amato and Faircloth to authorize the Breast Cancer Research Stamp, a semipostal that helps fund research programs. The creation and continued reauthorization of this stamp has raised more than $86 million for breast cancer research.
Assault Weapons Ban, 1994: Senator Feinstein won passage of a landmark 10-year ban on the manufacture and sale of military-style assault weapons, including UZIs and AK-47s. The bill also banned copycat versions of the banned weapons, any weapon with a combination of specific “assault” features and ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
California Desert Protection Act, 1994: The enactment of Senator Feinstein’s bill protected more than 7 million acres of pristine California desert and established the Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks and the East Mojave Natural Preserve.
Some stars know how to make an exit. Here’s the newest image from the James Webb Space Telescope, released on April 7, 2023. It shows what’s called a supernova remnant – a giant expanding cloud of debris in space – which earthly astronomers call Cassiopeia A, or Cas A. This cloudy shroud is what remains of a massive star that exploded, from Earth’s perspective, some 340 years ago. Of course, for any Cassiopeians living near this star, which is 11,000 light-years from Earth, the event happened more than 11,000 years ago. While the supernova should have been bright enough for earthlings to see as a “new” star in the night sky in the 1690s, no one has yet found a record of anyone’s having witnessed it.
Located in the direction of the constellation Cassiopeia, Cas A is the brightest radio source in our sky, apart from our sun. Webb imaged the supernova remnant in the infrared, which is between visible and radio on the electromagnetic spectrum.
At 340 years old, Cas A is the 2nd-youngest supernova remnant we know in our Milky Waygalaxy. The youngest is G1.9+0.3 – only 150 years old – located in the direction of the constellation Sagittarius.
More Posts
- Cosmos IC 410
- Gabriel Fauré
- Stevie Winwood
- Gary Peacock
- World Music Alina Gingertail
- Daily Roots Christopher Martin
- Cosmos NGC 1435
- Butch Trucks
- Eric Burdon
- Carla Bley
- World Music Trio Mandili
- Daily Roots Prince Jammy
- Temple Israel Erev Shabbat Service
- Cosmos Serpens South
- Sly Dunbar
- Donovan
- Jimmy Ponder
- Mel Lewis
- Flamenco Fridays Estrella Morente
- Daily Roots Alton Ellis